Closing the Fiber Gap to Apartments

FierceCable Custom Publishing

CLOSING THE FIBER GAP TO APARTMENTS

Demand for fiber optic cable to carry an explosion in Indeed, fiber cable may pass an apartment building data traffic continues to be robust, driven heavily by underground or on a pole, but access to a building’s video consumption and other rich content. Verizon, wiring closet—much less to dozens or hundreds of now the owner of AOL, recently signed mega deals individual units—remains difficult, industry officials to buy fiber cable from Corning and Prysmian. said.

As of 2016, half of all commercial buildings in the Of 30 million residences in Multi-Dwelling Unit U.S. were connected to fiber, up dramatically in the (MDU) buildings in the U.S., only an estimated 20% past decade, according to Vertical Systems Group. are served by fiber, according to the Fiber Broadband Association, a trade group representing dozens of Even so, a gap remains for connections of fiber to businesses including Corning, 3M, Verizon Fios, apartments and condos (known as Fiber to the Unit, Google Fiber, Xfinity Communities and equipment or FTTU), which are abundant in large city centers vendor Graybar. and house up to half of urban residents. Apartments are “clearly far more sparsely served” than commercial With such a small percentage getting access to fiber, buildings, according to veteran Vertical analyst the industry is squarely focused on provisioning new Rosemary Cochran. MDU buildings and renovated structures with fiber to each unit.

July 2017 1 CLOSING THE FIBER GAP TO APARTMENTS FierceCable Custom Publishing

WHY FIBER IS DEEMED ‘FUTURE PROOF’

Running fiber to apartment units makes them future New transport electronics being used today can proof, building owners and the industry officials provide up to 500-gigabit speeds, said Scott Jackson, believe. That’s because of the immense data capac- chairman of the FBA. ity of fiber and its ability to meet mushrooming data demands from video and from coming innovations “Fiber won’t run out of bandwidth as demand like augmented reality and virtual reality. grows,” he added.

In theoretical terms, a single fiber pair three years One thorny problem with running fiber to indi- ago could provision 80 channels at 10 Gbps, but vidual units inside existing buildings in many U.S. newer modulation techniques can increase that cities comes from exclusive marketing and wiring speed by 10 times to 100 Gbps or higher. deals struck between a building landlord and a single incumbent ISP.

“Fiber won’t run out of bandwidth as Many of these exclusive deals were struck years ago, prior to the latest broadband innovations. Federal demand grows.” officials are trying to get a handle on the number and impact of such deals, but some industry analysts --Scott Jackson, chairman of the Fiber Broadband believe they are commonplace. Association “Today, landlords basically get money from ISPs in exchange for exclusivity,” said Roger Enter, an analyst Indeed, the FBA says the theoretical potential of fiber at Recon Analytics. “It’s a real impediment to the optic cable is a whopping 200 terabits per second. Fi- expansion of broadband to apartments.” Those ex- ber sends data over light waves so there is a wide light clusive deals can make it even more expensive to run wavelength spectrum to provide capacity far into the fiber to each unit, especially if a landlord knows he future. Engineers can also send data in bursts instead or she must buy out an exclusive contract, or break it. of a steady stream to increase data capacity.

July 2017 2 FTTU: CLOSING THE FIBER GAP FierceCable Custom Publishing

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REGARDLESS OF MDU SCENARIO, CORNING HAS YOUR SOLUTION

At Corning, we understand there is no single ideal fiber installation solution for multidwelling units (MDUs). Not only do MDUs differ in appearance and construction, but expectations are unique for each deployment.

MDU properties previously thought to be too complicated are now potentially among the most highly sought after FTTH environments. And they often present a great challenge—finding the physical space to support the required infrastructure. This is particularly true of mid- and high-rise buildings in large urban environments where available interior space is a premium, as much of it has been converted and/ or renovated into more usable space over the years. Pair these physical challenges with expectations of pleasing aesthetics and low intrusion, and you have quite a conundrum.

Our RPDpass® indoor riser cable optimizes the performance of Corning® ClearCurve® bend- insensitive fiber capabilities with high-quality, factory-terminated and tested connectors to offer complete flexibility in challenging MDU deployments.

Designed for mid- and high-rise MDU environments, RPDpass cable simplifies the design and installation in larger buildings, providing carriers and building owners more cost-effective indoor solutions. Collapsible reels eliminate the need for slack storage, saving installation time and space, while innovations in low-loss connectivity offer higher network reliability and future-readiness.

Leverage our range of MDU product solutions, backed by the expertise we have gathered from global MDU deployments, to meet the ever- increasing consumer demand for bandwidth.

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MILLENNIALS ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR FAST INTERNET

The FTTU market opportunity should make build- (Low E glass uses a coating that reflects radiant infra- ing owners, landlords and especially ISPs sit up and red energy while letting visible light through.) take notice. Advances like ultra-bendable fiber cable that can “Generally speaking, there is a growing need for turn around corners and fiber tape that can be hid- bandwidth, and therefore a market opportunity to den along wall moldings help make apartment instal- deliver fiber to the living unit despite the obstacles lations of fiber easier and therefore more palatable an apartment building may present,” said Kristi to landlords and tenants, a Verizon spokesman said. Johnson, Americas market development manager for These approaches also help lower installation costs Corning Optical Communications, which develops with a shortened construction period. and manufactures fiber, fiber cable, optical equipment and RF connections.

Fast Internet access is actually a big draw for millen- “There is a growing need for bandwidth nials who heavily populate apartments. And broad- and therefore a market opportunity to band is one of the top amenities tenants seek. Apart- deliver fiber to the living unit despite the ments offering choices for fast Internet service can fetch 8% more in rent, according to the FBA. obstacles an apartment building may present.” For new apartments and condos under construction, the broadband industry is working with architects —Kristi Johnson, Americas market development and builders to design structures with different types manager for Corning Optical Communications. of cable and wire runs capable of reaching every living unit. “Architects are actually planning for fiber on the front end,” Johnson said.

With fiber to the unit, luxury housing landlords can advertise gigabit (or faster) bandwidth as a lure to potential new renters. With many existing apartments, however, installing fiber is a more difficult proposition.

Fiber-based ISPs like Verizon Fios have resorted at times to serve existing buildings they can’t get inside by using 4G LTE wireless and fixed wireless technology to connect buried fiber cable nearby to each apartment.

Even so, wire-line connections with fiber and coax to each apartment are viewed as more robust and reliable than most wireless signals. High-frequency radio waves don’t easily penetrate thick walls or even newer windows made of Low E (Emissivity) glass.

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there’s no electrical interference to fiber from sur- High-speed Internet is more important rounding sources. in apartments than in-room laundry Comcast, traditionally regarded as a coax-dependent facilities. provider, has a large fiber network in the U.S., cover- ing 150,000 square miles. The company has recently promoted what it calls a cost-efficient Fiber-to-the- —Survey of apartment building managers and owners Building (FTTB) infrastructure.

That approach takes advantage of the DOCSIS 3.1 spec, delivering speeds up to 1 Gbps to apartment Fiber is also seen as a simpler network to install, with dwellers by relying on existing coax cables inside the just one fiber network instead of two with copper buildings and requiring new modems in each apart- and coaxial cable. Fiber optic strands are also much ment. It has already been delivered in some markets smaller in diameter than coax or copper. Fiber test- and will be expanded through 2017, according to ing is simple. a statement from Michael Slovin, vice president of Xfinity Communities. “Fiber is simpler to install at all levels with today’s innovations,” Jackson said. “Factory-engineered and Comcast recently surveyed 205 building managers terminated cables enable fast plug-and-play con- and owners and found that more than 80% want the nections. New field-terminated connectors make latest communications technology to future-proof deployments much easier than in the past. Today it their buildings. is extremely rare that an installer would splice fiber optics and not use plug-and-play in the last mile.” In one peculiar finding, that same Comcast survey found that Wi-Fi and high-speed Internet were consid- An added plum comes from the physics of light: ered more important than in-room laundry facilities.

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WHY SOME EXISTING APARTMENTS ARE NOT WELL-CONNECTED

Since apartment dwellers and apartment owners She believes there are fewer fiber suppliers serving want fast broadband, including fiber, it’s worth ask- the residential market, as compared to the busi- ing why existing residential complexes aren’t getting ness market. That’s because “in the business market, provisioned with fiber more often. fiber-based revenues generate higher revenue per customer,” Cochran said. The reason could partly be that landlords often reach exclusive deals with incumbent providers, as However, exclusive deals have tamped down the many contend. Vertical analyst Cochran has an- adoption of fiber in existing buildings enough so other explanation. that they have caught the attention of some big city governments and the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC recently launched an official inquiry -ask ing the public how much impact exclusive deals have in suppressing competition for broadband in Multi-Tenant Environments (MTEs) such as apartment buildings and shopping malls.

Also, the FCC has received dozens of written com- ments over a request to vacate a recent San Fran- cisco ordinance that encourages multiple ISPs in apartment buildings. That ordinance says landlords can’t deny new ISPs access to existing wiring in their buildings, but must be compensated when they do so.

What happens at the FCC on both fronts could be far-reaching for the broadband industry, but any actions are expected to take months, if not years. President Trump only recently appointed the last two members of the five-member FCC.

Meanwhile, fiber providers like Corning are ready and able to serve the growing public demand. l

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